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"A work party was engaged in removal of scrap rail following rail renewal work. This task involved the use of a road-rail excavator and two rail mounted trailers.

The vehicles had been put on the line earlier and had been loaded with scrap rail. On return to the access point at Scout Green the excavator was taken off the track and commenced unloading of the trailers using its ślog grab'. Attempts to drag the first length of rail off the trailer caused it to move slightly. This caused pieces of timber being used as chocks, to fall or be dislodged from the railhead. The trailer started to roll south on the 1 in 76 falling gradient towards Tebay.

Attempts to stop the trailer were unsuccessful and it ran out of the Scout Green worksite, then out of the possession, gathering speed. No warning reached a gang working at Tebay, the next worksite, some 3.25 miles (5.22km) to the south of Scout Green and in a separate possession, before the runaway trailer arrived.

Members of the gang working on the track at Tebay did not detect the approach of the trailer. Several were struck, resulting in four fatalities and four others suffering injuries, in one case serious. The trailer also collided with two trolleys in use at the Tebay worksite and these eventually brought the trailer to a halt some miles further on."